When Anne Elliot (Ann Fairbank) turned down Captain Wentworth's (Bryan Marshall) proposal of marriage, she had allowed herself to be "persuaded" by her snobbish family's conviction of his unworthiness. But after a separation of eight years, Anne's former lover returns from a career at sea, now both eligible and affluent. Anne's father (Basil Dignam) has been forced to lease their home and move the family into a smaller abode in Bath. Just as Anne recognizes the false values that had persuaded her to reject Captain Wentworth, she must accept that his heart now seems set upon the youth and beauty of the impetuous Louisa Musgrove (Zhivila Roche) in this five-part 1971 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel.